Fran Drescher and Peter Marc Jacobson are behind the creation of the Broadway musical based on their 1990s sitcom The Nanny.
The project was just announced this week by producers Brian and Scott Zeilinger with direction by Marc Bruni and music by Crazy Ex-Girlfriend‘s Rachel Bloom and Adam Schlesinger. Bloom, who co-created and starred in CW’s Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, will write the musical’s song lyrics alongside Schlesinger; the team won an Emmy award for music from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Bloom shared with Deadline that she’s excited for the film because The Nanny was “a fundamental part of my childhood.”
“It was the first time I saw an openly Jewish female protagonist on television,” Bloom said. “The story of Fran Fine, however, is a universal one that has touched the hearts of people of every race, religion and orientation. I am so proud to be using the characters established by The Nanny to tell a new story about one woman’s journey to becoming proud of who she is and what makes her different.”
Drescher and Jacobson told Deadline that they’re excited to be working on the Broadway show with Bloom and Schlesinger writing the music and Bruni directing. While Drescher was featured in the lead role during the sitcom series, she said she would not perform the lead in the play, jokingly saying it would be called “Granny.”
“Nobody is cast yet — we’re plotting — but we feel confident we will find a fabulous actress who is funny, charming and has a great voice,” the pair said.
The Nanny, which originally ran on CBS from 1993 to 99, featured Drescher as Fran Fine, a Jewish fashionista from Queens, New York who becomes a nanny of three children in the high society world. Drescher created and produced the show alongside Jacobson, who took the idea from her personal life growing up with Queens. The show won an Emmy Award and was nominated twice for a Golden Globe.